Still No Better
While driving on an interstate highway in Illinois this evening, I spoke with my father Ernest. He updated me on Mee Maw.
Earlier in the day Roni, who had spent the night, called everyone up to the hospital room because Mee Maw's blood pressure and her blood oxygen level had decreased. This was, according to her, the beginning of the end. The sons and their wives grouped together, but so did the blood readings and the crisis ended.
Ralph spent time talking with the doctor. He emphatically says that he did NOT say that the cancer was causing Mee Maw's problem. He DID say that the cancer was probably spreading, but that it would be impossible to determine without some further long and invasive (and expensive) tests. He said that Mee Maw's condition was primarily due to the shock of the broken pelvis and the effects of the pain medication on her mind. He told the family that "she would not be able to stand it" if they were to take her off of the pain medicines.
She is not getting much nourishment. Yesterday my mother was able to feed her a small cup of applesauce, but that is all she has taken in several days. The doctor mentioned the possibility of removing the saline IV, but that keeps her body hydrated and perhaps prolongs things a bit. Mee Maw always emphatically said that she DID NOT want to be force-fed or fed through a tube as her husband was. So if she will not eat, she will eventually succumb.
My dad was able to get her to respond for a brief time this afternoon. Mee Maw will open her eyes and acknowledge things. She is still not clear in her head, however, because the morphine and other medications have really fogged her mind up.
The doctor also said that the pelvis will most likely never heal. With her age and her body's condition, the resources are just not there to promote bone healing. Another factor he mentioned was that the bone marrow comes out of the bone and into the abdominal cavity, causing additional complications. Nothing short of surgery could help that, and surgery is completely out of the question.
So at this point it is a matter of waiting. The consensus is that Mee Maw will not leave the hospital alive. It hurts to write that, and it hurts worse to think about it, but it is a fact that must be dealt with.
Please, as requested in the previous post, pray for Mee Maw to be free from pain and discomfort. Pray for the family, especially the 3 local sons and their wives as they deal with the final matters. And please pray for all of us who love her that we can accept God's timing in taking her to her eternal reward, where someday we all shall be together again.
Earlier in the day Roni, who had spent the night, called everyone up to the hospital room because Mee Maw's blood pressure and her blood oxygen level had decreased. This was, according to her, the beginning of the end. The sons and their wives grouped together, but so did the blood readings and the crisis ended.
Ralph spent time talking with the doctor. He emphatically says that he did NOT say that the cancer was causing Mee Maw's problem. He DID say that the cancer was probably spreading, but that it would be impossible to determine without some further long and invasive (and expensive) tests. He said that Mee Maw's condition was primarily due to the shock of the broken pelvis and the effects of the pain medication on her mind. He told the family that "she would not be able to stand it" if they were to take her off of the pain medicines.
She is not getting much nourishment. Yesterday my mother was able to feed her a small cup of applesauce, but that is all she has taken in several days. The doctor mentioned the possibility of removing the saline IV, but that keeps her body hydrated and perhaps prolongs things a bit. Mee Maw always emphatically said that she DID NOT want to be force-fed or fed through a tube as her husband was. So if she will not eat, she will eventually succumb.
My dad was able to get her to respond for a brief time this afternoon. Mee Maw will open her eyes and acknowledge things. She is still not clear in her head, however, because the morphine and other medications have really fogged her mind up.
The doctor also said that the pelvis will most likely never heal. With her age and her body's condition, the resources are just not there to promote bone healing. Another factor he mentioned was that the bone marrow comes out of the bone and into the abdominal cavity, causing additional complications. Nothing short of surgery could help that, and surgery is completely out of the question.
So at this point it is a matter of waiting. The consensus is that Mee Maw will not leave the hospital alive. It hurts to write that, and it hurts worse to think about it, but it is a fact that must be dealt with.
Please, as requested in the previous post, pray for Mee Maw to be free from pain and discomfort. Pray for the family, especially the 3 local sons and their wives as they deal with the final matters. And please pray for all of us who love her that we can accept God's timing in taking her to her eternal reward, where someday we all shall be together again.
posted by Richard | 11:37 PM
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